Good night

As gripping as the bus drama is, it's time to stay good night. Thank you so much for your company this evening. I will be back with you and the hustings tomorrow.

Let's wrap:

Tonight was the final leaders' debate of the 2013 election - we believe.

The two candidates, Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott, faced off at Rooty Hill, western Sydney. The questioners wanted to know about education, the fate of the Christmas beetle, outsourcing, foreign investment, health, aged care and paid parental leave.

Rudd got more hostile questioners than Abbott.

The two candidates wandered off their respective policy reservations: Tony Abbott on health (he said the Coalition would not axe any Medicare Locals) and Rudd on foreign investment (Lord knows what Labor's policy is now about the purchases of farm land).

A lot of people on Twitter are also arguing that Tony Abbott looked very tired tonight. Both of these leaders must be incredibly tired. Ten days to go, and they will be the most intense of the campaign.

My verdict: Abbott wins

Tonight was a much flatter affair than Brisbane. I thought it pretty uninspiring to be frank.

Rudd faced a lot of hostile questions from the audience, and I thought while he had some crisp come-backs to Abbott, he struggled overall to land a clean message. The Labor leader also seemed to change Labor's foreign investment policy on the fly. I now have no idea what Labor's policy is on foreign land aquisitions now - perhaps Rudd will enlighten us all at his next press conference. [That's obviously a close-in view - I doubt voters will give a toss.]

I also thought the strain of tonight showed on Rudd's face, particularly when Abbott had the microphone.

Abbott stuck to the stump formulations and tailored the preamble to western Sydney. There was nothing to inspire here from the Liberal leader - but no mistakes, the arguments were clear.

I thought Rudd won the first two debates.

Tonight, I think Abbott was more sure-footed, and performed more strongly.

Tony Abbott, closing statement

Kevin wanted this debate to be all about me.

I want it to be all about you.

I support the NBN just as much as Mr Rudd, the difference is, I'll deliver it.

We'll get it done for $60bn less.

I will do a bunch of practical things to make your life better. Why should you trust me? Because I'm trustworthy. It's been a circus under Labor and frankly, the circus has to stop. The only way you can stop it is change the government.

Kevin Rudd, closing statement

Rudd says his plan for the future is pretty basic: health and hospitals, education funding. It's about building: building the NBN to Doonside.

I think that's the name of the place.

The future plan is about helping with cost of living pressures: childcare funding, the school kids bonus. And I hate Tony Abbott's PPL scheme. And why won't Tony answer the question about where his cuts are? PPL will cost $22bn and you will all pay for it.

A question about foreigners coming in and "buying our land." How can we stop it?

Abbott: He says the key test is the national interest. No-one can take away our land, Abbott says. If people buy the land and intend to develop it, then governments should look at it. Abbott says the Coalition will increase transparency about agriculture land sales.

Rudd:

I'm not as free market as Tony on this.

Rudd suddenly becomes an economic nationalist on foreign investment.

[This is a major shift potentially - and somehwat abrupt. Five minutes ago Rudd was foreshadowing more foreign investment to develop the NT. We are clearly in a 'whatever it takes' phase.]

Rudd says there should be more joint ventures on the purchases of land.

We should not have open slather.

David Speers asks Abbott whether Chinese investment is a problem? Abbott says there shouldn't be a "colour bar" on these transactions.

A question on long term unemployment and under employment to both candidates.

Abbott: Employers have to be prepared to take people on. Building the stronger economy is the key to these things.

Our priority has got to be the people with no work rather than the people with some work.

Rudd: Can I agree with Mr Abbott? We need a strong economy. Our economy is growing, unemployment is low and interest rates are low. That's the foundation. Then you need good training and apprenticeships. Allowances for tool kits.

Rudd gets another hostile question. Why can't Labor every deliver a surplus? The Labor leader says he supports small business (the question is from a small business owner.) Rudd says we are currently in deficit because of the GFC. And Rudd points to some cuts from Abbott today which will hurt small business.

Abbott says if Rudd was so great in managing the GFC, then why did the Labor Party sack him in June 2010?

The small business man persists now with Abbott. His theme is the PPL. He contends a forklift driver shouldn't pay taxes so ..

Abbott: My kids went to good schools. Margie and I want our grand children to go to good schools. We will spend the same as the ALP on schools over the next four years. We should continue to support independent schools. Over time public schools should become more like independent schools.

Rudd: Independent schools are critical. Every kids needs the right education for the future. Why won't Abbott commit to the six year funding window for Gonski? And why would you have a PPL scheme for millionaires and cut the school kids bonus:

David Speers asks Abbott why won't he commit to the six years of Gonski funding?

Abbott: Because we should fund things over the four year budget cycle.

Kevin Rudd opens

The Labor leader is glad to be back in western Sydney. Ten percent of the country lives in western Sydney, Rudd remarks. It's an important part of the world. Why should you re-elect me, he asks? I see my job as doing everything I can to protect your job in the future.

Rudd says he was "frightened" during the global financial crisis. But the government took steps to protect the voters.

We acted, we intervened, we did the right thing.

Times are still uncertain, Rudd says. And elections are about priorities. Why is Tony Abbott persisting with that paid parental leave scheme?

Mike Bowers tells me a punter has yelled out to the host David Speers: he's concerned about how Kevin Rudd might be treating the make-up artist. This is of course relates to some controversy last week about Rudd allegedly being short with the make-up lady for the Broncos debate.

Kevin Rudd will kick off the debate this evening, and Tony Abbott will close the discussion. It's the same format as the debate in Brisbane last week - a group of undecided voters asking questions of the leaders.

My colleague Paul Owen did guide readers of the live blog to our weekly podcast this morning. If you weren't with us today, here's a link to that again.

I'd encourage you to listen to the interview mid-podcast with Liberal pollster and strategist Mark Textor. There's some excellent insights from him into Tony Abbott's campaign. Textor's reflections about values and about verbs provide a lot of context explaining some of the back-room rationale for how the Liberal leader is presenting himself to the voters in 2013.

Another interesting contribution to reflect on either before or after the debate is from Guardian Australia's poll expert, Simon Jackman. You can read his latest blog, The Swing, here.

The latest update to my poll averaging model puts the Coalition on 53.4% to Labor's 46.6%, in two-party preferred (TPP) terms. Labor's TPP level is unchanged over the past week.

For Labor supporters, that's the extent of any good news here: the decline in Labor TPP vote share appears to have stopped.

The Labor leader Kevin Rudd has spent much of the afternoon in preparation for this evening. The Liberal leader Tony Abbott kept up public events throughout the day.

Rudd's greatest problem going into tonight is the sense that the Labor campaign has taken on too much water to recover in the final ten days. Rudd has had a scrappy couple of days this week. Increasingly he's campaigning like a leader lurching from issue to issue, from confected attack to attack. Through the combination of his own actions on the hustings, the bad polls, and the weight of coverage indicating that it's all over for Rudd bar the shouting, the problem for Labor tonight is surely is one of engagement.

Will swinging voters watch tonight? And if Rudd manages a good performance, will it cut through?

Good evening, and welcome to our live coverage of the third leaders debate of election 2013: the "people's forum" at Rooty Hill.

If you've not been with me for the day on the hustings, and you want the day in detail, you can find it here. If you'd rather avert your eyes from the rolling updates, and you just need the short version - let's briefly recap the story of today.

Ahead of tonight's debate the Coalition released some more details about its saving measures and costings in an effort to neutralise one of Kevin Rudd and Labor's main political attack lines tonight - 'where are your cuts and costings Tony?'

The Coaliton confirmed $36.1bn in savings measures, mostly connected to the abolition of the carbon and mining taxes - most of which we already knew. The shadow treasurer Joe Hockey then when on to exchange talking points and campaign catch-phrases with the treasurer Chris Bowen at the National Press Club.

The leaders went north and south. Kevin Rudd started today in Brisbane; Tony Abbott in Hobart. Both leaders are now in Sydney and given the peak hour traffic, will be en route to Rooty Hill for tonight's debate.

Kick off is at 6.30pm. There is still time to gather drinks and snacks and whatever creature comforts and pacifiers you might require for the evening's hijinks.

I look forward to your company for the next few hours. Photo-journalist Mike Bowers is on the spot of the debate, and will be filing pictures live.